Swiss university scores ERC advanced grant success
Seven ETH Zürich professors are successfully sharing Advanced Grant funding from the European Research Council worth around CHF 16.6m (~€16m). Two of the seven academics are receiving the coveted award for the second time.
The Swiss university is one of the most successful European universities in recent years in terms of winning ERC Advanced Grants. The success rate of the university’s researchers is recorded as 33%, with seven of the 21 projects submitted for funding approved by the ERC for an Advanced Grant. Professor Ruedi Aebersold, head of the Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, and Professor Atac Imamoglu, head of the Institute of Quantum Electronics, were successful for a second time.
Commenting, Detlef Günther, vice-president of research and corporate relations at ETH Zürich said: “The fact that ETH has seamlessly built on the success of ERC grants in recent years is a sign of how highly it is regarded within the European research environment, and it also shows the quality of our researchers.”
The approved projects receive between CHF 2.5m to CHF 3.5m over a period of five years. In 2013, 12 Advanced Grants were awarded to ETH researchers, whilst in 2012 seven grants were received.
Adding his thoughts, ERC grantee Aebersold said: “These grants are of course a wonderful thing for us researchers, but they are also an increasingly important indicator of a university’s performance. ETH Zürich has fared well up to now.”
An agreement between the European Commission and the Swiss Federal Council was signed last autumn allowing Swiss-based researchers to partially participate in Horizon 2020.
